Ali, Muhammad (aka Cassius Clay)

vs Banks, Sonny

First time Cassius Clay would get knocked down.  fighting Sonny Banks in Madison Square Garden in his first bout of 1962. He is knocked down for the first time in his career, but rallies to stop banks in the fourth round.

vs Berbick, Trevor

Ali's last fight.  December 11, 1981 after one final fight, another losing battle against marginal contender Trevor Berbick in December of 1981, Ali finally calls it a career.

vs Blin, Jurgen

1971 Heavy weight Title Bout: Ali vs Jurgen Blin: Ali knocks out Blin in the seventh round.

vs Bonavena, Oscar

Fight Ali needed to win to get Frazier.  He looks far from impressive in stopping Oscar Bonavena in the 15th round on December 7th, but this sets up the first "Fight of the Century" with the reigning Heavyweight Champion -- 'Smokin' Joe Frazier.

vs Bugner, Joe #1 and #2

Joe Bugner went the distance twice with Muhammad Ali - the first time on February 14th, 1973 in Las Vegas and then again on June 30th, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur.  In all they fought 27 rounds. Fight #2 June 30, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:  Ali defended against the 25 year old, 230 lb European champion from Britain, Joe Bugner.  Ali at 33 years of age and 225 lbs was in remarkably good shape. He needed it because the fight went the full 15 rounds in intense heat.  Ali started fighting flat-footed, then later changed to his familiar stick and dance.  By round eleven Bugner was out of steam, but he still continued gamely. In the 13th round, Ali had a slight cut above his left eye. The champion clearly was much the better fighter in the later portions of the fight and obtained a unanimous decision.

vs Chuvalo, George #1 and #2

The first fight between the Canadian George Chuvalo and Ali went all 15 rounds and became known as "The Last Round," when Chuvalo almost knocked Ali out in the last round.  The rematch in 1967 would again be a good fight, but again Ali would outclass Chuvalo for the unanimous decision.

vs Clark, Lamar (no sound, highlights)

Ali's first pro fight  The icing on the cake for Cassius in 1960 was his first pro fight on October 29th. At this point he was still fighting under the name Cassius Clay, and was not known as Muhammad Ali yet. Before his first pro match with Lamar Clark, Cassius predicted that he would knock out Clark in the second round. He was right, and he continued to make his now famous rhyming predictions.

vs Cooper, Henry #1 and #2

Fight #1 1963 Cooper almost beat the then Cassius Clay by knocking Clay down with a solid left hook in the 4th round.  The bell and a cut glove, which delayed starting the next round, may have prevented Clay from being knocked out. Fight #2  May 21, 1966 in London:  Ali defended Heavyweight Crown against England's Henry Cooper. This was London's first heavyweight championship fight in 58 years. The 32 year old challenger had a 32-11-1 record and a good left hook. In this 1966 fight, Ali seemed to pace himself for the first five rounds.  He pretty much kept skipping around and moved counter clockwise against the much slower challenger.  Near the end of the second round, Henry landed a hard two left hand combination to the champion's head.  This was the high mark for the challenger.  While he did land several more solid shots, none were in combination, and none appeared to have any affect on Ali.  Cooper received several warnings from the referee for hitting low, and Ali received several warnings for pushing and holding.  Ali was content in these rounds to stick with short two punch combinations and then avoid most of Cooper's blows. Things changed quickly in the sixth round.  Ali turned tiger.  He quickly pressured Henry into a corner and landed a stiff right-left combination to Cooper's head.  This caused an immediate flow of a large amount of blood from above the challenger's left eye.  The referee stopped the fight, examined the cut, and then let the fight continue.   Ali then begin peppering the eye with a number of long left jobs which increased the bleeding.  The referee stopped the fight giving Ali a TKO.

vs Coopman, Jean Pierre

February 20, 1976 in San Juan:  Ali defends against the 29 year old Belgian Jean-Pierre Coopman.  The challenger, with a 24 and 3 record, weighed 20 lbs less than the champ.  Ali started the fight dancing and moving in circles.  He increasingly was able to land sharp left jabs to the jaw of Coopman.  By the forth round, Coopman's face was covered with red marks from  Ali's lefts.  Ali took most of his opponents blows on his elbows and arms, and consistently was able to man-handle his lighter opponent.  At this point Ali started fighting flat-footed throwing combinations with both hands.  Still his opponent kept coming forward, but was paying dearly for it.  Ali ended the fight with a KO at 2:46 seconds of round five with a jarring left right combination to the head.

vs Dokes, Michael (exhibition)

Muhammad Ali-Michael Dokes-sparring/exhibition (Dokes 19 years old)

vs Dunn, Richard

May 24, 1976 in Munich:  Ali defends against Richard Dunn.  The European champion was 31 years old, 206 lbs, and a British southpaw.  Ali 34 years old and 220 lbs looked very trim.  The aggressive Dunn gave Ali problems for a couple of rounds.  Ali solved his opponents southpaw stance by being able to land many hard, effective overhand rights.  In the forth round Ali knocked Dunn down with a short right.  Dunn got up but was knocked down two more times in the round with more rights.  The fifth round was even worse for the challenger.  Another right and down he went.  Up again, but then down again from still another right.  Dunn with great courage got up again and staggered into the ropes.  The referee then stopped the fight 2:05 seconds into the fifth round. Ali looked in much better shape at 220 lbs than he did three weeks before in the Jimmy Young fight at 230 lbs. It took five knockdowns to finally put the Englishman away for the count of ten. The end came in the fifth round. Although staged at 3:00 A.M. local time ,to accommodate American television ,an enthusiastic crowd of 11,000 turned out.

vs Ellis, Jimmy

"The Inevitable Fight"  Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Ellis were set to fight for the vacant NABF title.  Angelo Dundee had been both fighters corner man since the start of their careers. Ellis and Ali were friends and had sparred together numerous times in the mid 60's when Ali was the champ and Ellis was a prospect, although Ellis was two years older at the time. Dundee had been with Ellis a bit longer and decided to stay in his corner for the fight while one of the other trainers went and worked with Ali. This was a lose, lose position for Dundee has one of his heavyweight stars was going to get a loss on his record and sink in the rankings. Ellis was coming off three straight impressive wins over Roberto Davila, Tony Doyle and iron chinned George Chuvalo. Ellis had a record of 29-6 going into the fight with his former sparring partner. Ali was coming off his first loss of his career, the first fight with Joe Frazier. Ali was stepping right back into the bigtime with accepting the fight with the tough Ellis. Ali was very confident and sported a record of 31-1 coming into this contest.  Ali would knock Ellis out in round 12.

vs Folley, Zora

Ali's last fight before being drafted for Vietnam March 22, 1967 in New York's Madison Square Garden:  Ali, 25, defended title against 34 year old Zoro Folley.  Folley looked good in the first two rounds, as he was able land most of the heavy blows against the champion, who took the blows without hardly a flinch.  Ali didn't do much fighting until the third round.  In the forth, Ali open up with a number of quick punches leading up to a crisp left-right combination that knocked Folley down.  He laid on his stomach for a few seconds, then rose weakly.  The challenger quickly cleared his head and fought back gamely, and scored with a solid right that drove Ali to the ropes. But from the fifth round on it was all Ali.  He landed punches in bunches while receiving little in return.  In the seventh round, Zoro was in bad shape with a knot under his left eye and blood flowing from his nose.  As the onslaught continued, the challenger tired and at 1:48 into the round, the fight ended. A right to the head by Ali knocked Zoro down prone on his stomach, he got to his feet at seven, but fell back to his knees as the referee counted ten.  Going into the last round, two officials had the fight 4-2, Ali.  The other official had it even. Ali's TKO of Zora Folley was his last fight in the ring for 3½ years. Now, Ali's opponent was Uncle Sam. When the military attempted to draft him, Ali said he was a conscientious objector. "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong," he had said in 1966.

vs Foreman, George

"The Rumble In The Jungle"  On October 30th, 1974 Ali tangles with Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire -- the "Rumble in the Jungle". Ali is a 3-1 underdog, and many actually fear for his safety against perhaps the hardest puncher in heavyweight title history. But Ali is in tremendous shape, and he has spotted a weakness in Foreman's armor. Letting Foreman punch himself out by employing his now famous "rope-a-dope", Ali covers up on the ropes as Foreman exhausts himself before the fight is even half over. In the eighth round, Ali comes off the ropes and stuns Foreman with a combination, dropping him in the center of the ring where he is counted out with two seconds left in the round. Again Ali has done the impossible, as he becomes only the second man to ever regain the heavyweigt crown.

vs Frazier, (smokin') Joe #1, #2, #3

Fight #1: "The Fight of The Century"  there remains one fight that truly lived up to it's billing. The first contest between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was simply called "The Fight of the Century." To this day, the billing rings true. When Ali challenged Frazier at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971, the ramifications reached far beyond the boxing ring. America had just emerged from the turbulent 1960s and the nation was divided. Ali was still held in contempt by much of the country. He was viewed as a brash, draft-dodging, Muslim who embodied the defiance and spirit of both the anti-war movement and the radical chic. Frazier -- who read the Bible and liked to sing -- was held up as the conscientious, blue-collar champion. THE SHOWDOWN was the most anticipated heavyweight title fight since Joe Louis defeated Max Schmeling in their 1938 rematch at Yankee Stadium. It remains a night to remember. Of those who participated that evening, seven have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. They are Ali, Frazier, referee Arthur Mercante, matchmaker Teddy Brenner, Garden president Harry Markson, Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee, Frazier's trainer Eddie Futch and a broadcast team that included Don Dunphy and Archie Moore. Futch, a six-decade veteran of the sweet science, has said he has never seen a night like it before or since. There were more than 700 working press credentials issued for the fight and at least 500 more were turned down. The fight was a happening with celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and Hugh Hefner sitting ringside. Dustin Hoffman and Diana Ross were chased out of the press section but Frank Sinatra had a position along the ring apron as a photographer for Life Magazine. The fight was unique in that for the first time in history it matched an unbeaten former heavyweight champion against the unbeaten current champ. Ali was stripped of his title after refusing induction into the Army in 1967. Since he had not lost the crown in the ring, he proclaimed himself the People's Champion. As he entered the ring against Frazier, his record stood at 31-0 with 25 knockouts. The showdown between Ali and Frazier was the only fight that mattered and the participants were each compensated with a guaranteed purse of $2.5 million, a record at the time. The Garden was sold out a full month before the fight and ringside tickets were going for a record $150. Mercante recalled being in awe of the atmosphere, which included Hollywood stars and national politicians as well as former champions Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey. The night was simply electric. Once the fighting started, it got even better. IF STYLES make fights, then there has never been a pair of fighters who complemented each other more. Ali was the boxer and Frazier the puncher. The key to Ali's success was his speed. He possessed lightning-fast hands and had a left jab that could dictate a fight. He also had enough agility and footwork to escape danger. Frazier's best punch was a devastating left hook but his greatest asset might have been his indomitable will. A fight with Joe Frazier was a war of attrition. It was a war he was used to winning. Ali weighed 215 pounds. Frazier weighed 205½. From the opening bell it appeared that inactivity caused Ali to lose a touch of his hand and footspeed. He chose to stand flatfooted and go to war on the champion's terms. It might not have been the best strategy, but it made for marvelous action. For 15 furious rounds, Frazier stalked Ali with his sweeping left hook while Ali countered by flashing his jab and stiff left-right combinations. They fought at a pace that seemed more accustomed to lightweights. Ali predicted a sixth-round knockout but it was Frazier who carried Round 6. He pinned Ali to the ropes and battered the former champion to the head and body. Ali remained on the ropes and absorbed punishment, offering only token resistance. He launched three pitter-patter punchers as if he were playing "Patty Cake" with the champion. Later, Mercante would remark that Ali gave away rounds, such as the sixth. At one point in the eighth round, Mercante instructed him to fight. The momentum changed in the ninth round when Ali backed Frazier up under a barrage of left-right combinations. They traded blows until the bell and the round was a clear statement from Ali -- it's not over yet. However, it would nearly end in the 11th. With 49 seconds left in that round, Ali was trapped in a corner and then rocked by a Frazier hook. Another hook buckled Ali's knees as he fell into the ropes. Ali stumbled across the ring with Frazier in pursuit. He was talking to Frazier and taunting him, never letting on how hurt he really was. Amazingly, Ali would survive the round. Frazier put an exclamation mark on the night at 2:34 of the 15th round. As Ali prepared to launch a right uppercut, Frazier unloaded a left hook and dropped Ali. Again, Ali would survive the round, but the fight was already lost. The scoring by rounds was as follows: Judge Artie Aidala, 9-6 for Frazier. Judge Bill Recht, 11-4 for Frazier. Mercante had it 8-6, with one even round, for Frazier. THE FIGHT was witnessed by 20,455 at the Garden and it has been estimated that 300 million more watched it across the world on closed-circuit television. The live gate generated $1.3 million. Ali and Frazier set the standard that night at the Garden. They would meet two more times and their rivalry stands as one of boxing's most dramatic trilogies. Boxers will forever battle punchers, but few will do it with the skill, grace, courage and determination of Ali and Frazier. They brought the best out of each other and out of the sport of boxing.

Fight #2 "The Rematch"  Joe Frazier missed with a left hook designed to air mail Ali’s noggin to jersey. On the ropes, Ali looked into the crowd at ringside. He winked. Ali won a unanimous decision over Frazier in the Son of Super Fight, a descendant of the first engagement three years ago.

Fight #3 "The Thrilla in Manila"  Oct. 1, 1975: Ali beats Frazier in Thrilla.  Joe Frazier had won the first bout and Muhammad Ali the second. It's 10:45 a.m. in the Philippines when their rubber match, "The Thrilla in Manila," starts, and the fight lives up to the hype. The bout is really three fights in one: The first has Ali outboxing and outscoring Frazier, nailing him with clean, sharp shots. The second fight, from the fifth through the 11th rounds, has Frazier pounding the champion terribly. The third fight starts in the 12th and somehow Ali, with the will of a champion, tears into Frazier for the next three rounds. When the bell rings for the 15th round, Frazier, with his eyes almost completely shut, stays in his corner as his trainer, Eddie Futch, throws in the towel. Later, Frazier says, "Man, I hit him with punches that'd bring down the walls of a city. Lawdy, lawdy, he's a great champion." Ali says of the fight, "It was like death. Closest thing to dying that I know of."

vs Foster, Bob

November 21, 1972 "The first round I could'nt catch him. I could'nt see his hands at all. They say he slowed down after the layoff, but this guy was still just too fast" Bob Foster. Foster went down three times in the fifth round, but in the sixth Foster came back to jar Ali. But in the end, Ali proved much too much for the smaller Foster. In total Foster went down seven times before being counted out in the eigth round. Although the clear winner, Ali suffered a cut for the first time in his career and many observers felt it was a dissappointing performance up against expectations. The fight was held in the High Sierra Theatre of the Sahara Tahoe Hotel. In the surreal seating of a ring surrounded by tables and spectators dining the fight was witnessed by a paid attendance of only 1,941.

vs Holmes, Larry

He announces his retirement on June 27th, 1979, relinquishing his title, then returns for a disastrous fight against Larry Holmes, on October 2nd, 1980. Ali is dominated by his ex-sparring partner, battered all over the ring for ten rounds before he retires on his stool before the eleventh round. It is the only time Ali has not finished a fight on his feet

vs Jay, Kenny

In 1975 Kenny Jay "The Sodbuster," better knowen for his all-star wrestling skill, took on Mohammad Ali in an exhibition match. Of course Ali knocked him out, but then Ali was one of the best promoters of bizarre anything.  Vince McMahon must have learned from Ali.

vs Johnson, Alonzo

exhibition match

vs Jones, Doug

On March 13, 1963 in Madison Square Garden, Clay won a close decision over Doug Jones in 10 rounds.

vs Liston, Sonny #1 and #2

Fight #1 MIAMI BEACH, Feb. 25 - Incredibly, the loud-mouthed bragging, insulting youngster had been telling the truth all along. Cassius Clay won the world heavyweight title tonight when a bleeding Sonny Liston, his left shoulder injured, was unable to answer the bell for the seventh round.  Immediately after he had been announced as the new heavyweight champion of the world, Clay yelled to newsmen covering the fight: "Eat your words." Only three of 46 sports writers covering the fight had picked him to win. A crowd of 8,297, on it's feet through the early rounds at Convention Hall, sat stunned during the one-minute rest period between the sixth and seventh rounds. Only Clay seemed to know what had happened; he threw up his hands and danced a little jig in the center of the ring. Fight #2 "The Phantom Punch"  May 25, 1965 in Lewiston, Maine:  Ali fought Liston for the second time.  As in their first fight, Liston was pressing the attack while Ali moved and countered.  While still in the first round, Ali, while moving back, caught Sonny with a chopping right to the head.  Most people at the fight claimed they did not see the punch.  Films do show that it was a punch and that Liston's head did move back from the blow.  But it was clearly not a knockout punch.  To the surprise of all, Liston went down.  Ali stood over the fallen ex-champion shouting, "Get up, nobody is going to believe this".   The referee, old Jersey Joe Walcott, was trying to pick up the count and get the dancing Ali to go to a neutral corner. Meanwhile, Liston was rolling around the canvas.  It was a circus.  Finally Liston got up.  Walcott, who at that moment, was standing between the fighters, went over to the time keeper.  The fighters started to fight again with Ali the aggressor.  After about eight seconds, Walcott stepped between them again and declared Ali the winner.  Cries of a fix mar the outcome, but the result stands.

vs London, Brian

August 6, 1966 in London:  Ali fought England's Brian London who had a 35-12 record.  Ali toyed with the very slow challenger for the first two rounds.   Midway in the third round, Ali with a series of eight or nine punches in succession, forced his opponent into a corner.  He then landed a hard left-right combination to the head that caused Brian to sink to the canvas and be counted out.   After the fight Ali announced he would fight one opponent a month until he was called into military service.

vs Lubbers, Rudi

10-21-1973 Jakarta, Indonesia Ali scores a decision in 12

vs Marciano, Rocky

just a novelty. Marciano and Ali were both paid $10,000. Ali needed the money because he hadn't fought in two years and had no income along with piling legal debt. Marciano was in good shape financially, but he did have some investments that lost money. Marciano took it seriously and trained for it like it was a fight. He wanted to be ready in case Ali tried to make him look bad. Ali was in horrible shape and didn't take it seriously.As far as Marciano dropping Ali with a body shot? Who knows for sure. There is a part of me that finds it hard to believe because Ali took it to the body better than any heavyweight ever. However, I don't believe that it's a total fabrication either. Lets just say that it's very likely that Marciano got Ali's attention somewhere during the filming with a body shot. Body shots were allowed during the 70 one minute rounds they were in the ring, so I could see Marciano sneaking in a big one to get Ali's respect. The bottom line is that it doesn't matter, it wasn't a fight. Here's all you need to know about computer fights. In September of 1970, they used the same computer that produced the Marciano-Ali fight to pick the winner of the Joe Frazier vs. Bob Foster heavyweight title fight in November of 1970. The computer picked Foster to stop Frazier in the sixth round. Since Frazier knocked Foster out in the second round, the computer could not have been more wrong. In fact, Frazier hit Foster so hard that he injured his ankle while he was going down.

vs Mathis, Buster

Ali had been calling it "Buster's Last Stand", and as events unfolded he proved to be very apt as ususal. A game Buster Mathis back in the ring after a two and half year lay-off was no match for Ali. Mathis went down twice in the 11th and twice in the 12th round. In the end Ali was the clear winner of a twelve round decision. Sadly when the fight was over a physically and emotionally spent Buster Mathis sat on his stool, tears streaming down his face, as Ali patted him on the back in an attempt to console him.

vs Mildenberger, Karl

September 10, 1966 in Frankfurt Germany: Ali, a ten to one favorite, defended title against Germany's 28 year old, 194 lb, Karl Mildenberger.  For the first four rounds the challenger gave Ali major problems. The left handed fighter landed a number of hard lefts to Ali's head and body.  But starting in the fifth round, Ali was able to land with his right hand to the German's head.  Just before the round ended Ali crashed  a right cross to the head that floored the challenger.  From this point on it was Ali who effectively landed hard rights to his opponents face. Karl had problems seeing from cuts after the seventh round. Karl was floored with a left hook in round eight, and for the third time from a right in the closing seconds of round ten. The referee stopped the fight in the 12th round as Karl was taking major punishment, and was about to go down again.  After the fight, Ali claimed  that the German was is toughest title defense so far, and his opponent was hard to get to and had a good punch.

vs Monsoon, Gorilla

GORILLA MONSOON v BARON MIKEL SCICLUNA. An incredible angle takes place as boxing legend Muhammad Ali first watches the match from ringside, then feels the urge to fight Monsoon. Gorilla scoops Ali up, airplane spins him, and slams him, leaving Ali helpless. Ali claimed he could take any wrestler.  This was all done to hype the upcoming Ali v Inoki closed-circuit match. I'm still suprised Ali, possibly the greatest sports legend of all-time, would take part in this angle. Gorilla Monsoon was known for a major thing, in the wrestling world, that no wrestler has ever done or for that matter, anyone. He is the only man to wrestle Muhammad Ali! Ali jumped in the ring in 1969, very fast and energetic, and apparently a "shoot" (he really was going to try and attack Monsoon.) Gorilla picked him up and put him on his should spinning around doing the airplane spin, and sent him flying outside the ring. After this incident Ali didn’t make it public so there was nothing following this incident. Gorilla said that it was a work not a shoot after the incident. But you never knew back then if they were telling the truth, because wrestling wasn’t treated or had the reputation as it does today. Back then they considered wrestling as a sport, but a sport that wasn’t real popular kind. Today wrestling is considered to be entertainment, with no real athletic ability (people who don’t watch wrestling) needed.

vs Norton, Ken #1, #2 and #3

Fight #1 - Norton, who turned pro in 1967, burst onto the scene in 1973 when he earned a split decision and the NABF heavyweight title with a 12-round decision over Muhammad Ali, which was only Ali's second loss. While many consider Ali the greatest heavyweight in history, it was Norton who gave him three of his closest fights. Norton broke Ali's jaw in their first fight.

Fight #2 Another non-title match was held between Ali and Norton on September 10, 1973  in Inglewood, California.  This kept both fighters in line to challenge the champion. Though he has gotten himself in the best shape since the Frazier fight, Ali is again troubled by Norton's style, as he will be throughout his career, but in another tough fight he manages to avenge the earlier loss with a split decision victory.  Fight #3  September 28, 1976 Yankee Stadium New York:  Ali fought the 31 year old ex-marine Ken Norton for the third time.  For the first part of the fight Ali stood flat- footed with Norton and traded power punches.  Ali's famous "rope a dope" that had worked so well against Foreman, proved ineffective and brought boos from the crowd.  Norton had much the better of it in these rounds, and kept landing solid punches to Ali's ribs and temple.  After six rounds Ali started dancing and jabbing and started winning the rounds.  But this took energy. In round eleven Norton again took command when Ali quit dancing.  The last few rounds appeared to go Norton's way as the fight went the distance. Ali never really hurt Norton, but Norton hurt Ali a number of times, especially with hard rights to the body.  Ali, as usual, only went for the head. Norton and most people at ringside thought he had won.  Ali looked dejected as he went back to his corner.  In this close and hard to judge fight, UPI scored it 8 to 7 Norton.  But the people that count, the officials, gave Ali a close but unanimous decision.  Two had it 8-6-1 and the other 8-7. Even though Ali won the decision he said that he could feel retirement. Troubled by Norton's awkward style as he escapes with the narrowest of decisions in a fight many again feel he has lost. The call for him to retire also grows louder.

vs Quarry, Jerry #1 and #2

Fight #1 On October 26th he fights Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, and though he stops Quarry on cuts in the third round, it is a different looking Ali. Fight #2  June 27, 1972 Ali won via a seventh round TKO

vs Shavers, Earnie

September 29, 1977 in New York's Madison Square garden:   Ali defends against the old but very tough Earnie Shavers.  Shavers had KOed 52 opponents with 19 occurring in the first round.  For the first 12 rounds Ali was pretty much able to stay away from his old and prodding  opponent.  Shavers was able to conserve energy by not following up the several times when it appeared he had Ali in trouble.  In round 13, Ali was shaken when he received four solid rights to his head, but Shavers wasn't able to follow them with any effective punches as Ali danced away.  Round 14 was similar with Ali in retreat and Shavers not quick enough to do any real damage.  The last round was by far the best of the match.  A real slugfest.  With quick combinations to Shavers' head, Ali forced him into a corner.  Shavers was extremely tired and almost out on his feet.  Just when it appeared the fight was over, Ali was rocked  with a looping left hook to his head.  This bought time for Shavers and he was able to finish the round.  What for the most part was a slow fight, with Shavers never able to launch a sustained attach against the evading champion, ended with real excitement. The officials gave Ali a unanimous decision.  Two gave Ali nine rounds to six, the other ten rounds to five.  A win for Ali, but clearly he was past his prime.

vs Spinks, Leon #1 and #2

Fight #1 - After winning the Gold Medal at the 1976 Olympics, after only seven professional fights, Ali gave him a shot at the title, and he won a 15 round decision against Ali for the heavyweight championship in February 15, 1978.

Fight #2 - Ali takes Spinks more serious and trains hard for this fight.  Ali would beat Spinks and reclaim the heavyweight championship for the 3rd time.

vs Terrell, Ernie

February 6, 1967 in Houston:  Ali defended against the tall and strong Ernie Terrell.   Ali won a hard but unanimous fifteen round decision.  In the fight, Terrell used an effective long left jab that caused blood to come from the champion's nose.  The challenger ended up with a left eye that was half closed. Ali, at this time in history, was appealing his 1-A draft status, claiming he was a Muslim minister.

vs Wepner, Chuck

March 24, 1975 in Cleveland:  Ali defended against liquor salesman Chuck Wepner.  The challenger looked much older than his 35 years.  The first four rounds were close as Ali apparently didn't take this fight seriously.  Wepner hit Ali several times in the back of the head and Ali returned the favor.  The referee twice went to the corners between rounds to issue warnings to the fighters. By the seventh round Wepner was bleeding from a cut above his left eye as Ali was taking control.  Chuck had lost seven previous fights due to cuts.  In round nine Ali tripped over Wepner's foot retreating from a right to the body.  The referee called it a knockdown and gave Ali an eight count. Up to this point Ali had been content to use mostly his left jab, but now as the fight was continuing, he switched to combinations with both hands. He hit his opponent with a lot of good, crisp combinations.  But Wepner, now clearly losing the fight, kept coming.  In the 15th round, Ali caught Wepner with a four punch combination to the head that had his opponent reeling like a drunk.  One more hard right floored Wepner.  As the count reached eight the referee stopped the fight with only 15 seconds remaining. As he was declared the winner Ali himself fell to the canvass. He appeared very groggy.  In the dressing room after the fight, his trainer Angelo Dundee said Ali was exhausted.  Going into the 15th round  the three officials had Ali ahead 135-128, 136-129, and 138-129.

vs Williams, Cleveland

In what many consider to be Ali at his physical peak. He is considered to be the fastest champion of all time, and many are starting to consider his claim of being "The Greatest" as legitimate.            November 14, 1966 in Houston Astrodome:  Ali, a five to one favorite, defended against the muscular 33 year old Cleveland Williams. A crowd of 35,460 saw this fight.  A record attendance for a fight under a roof.    Williams had a record of 65 and five with 51 KO's.  He had lost reviously to Sonny Liston, but had handed out punishment before being KOed.  Ali came out dancing in round one.  A hard combination by Ali late in the round seemed to daze and confuse the challenger. With one minute remaining in round two, Ali scored with a jolting left that floored Williams.  He got up, and with 46 seconds to go, the challenger was floored again.  He got up and as the round was ending, Ali knocked Williams down for the third time with a left hook.  The bell prevented Williams from being counted out. Ali came out fast in round three and immediately started landing effectively.  After less than a minute gone, a right cross downed Williams for the forth time.  The challenger gamely beat the count, but was on queer street.  The referee rightfully stopped the slaughter.